MPACT buys student-run radio station Dream 97.5

• The sale of Dream 97.5 to the public access cable channel should ensure continued operation after budget cuts put it in jeopardy.

WYDM, Dream 97.5, the non-profit radio station that has been something of a learning lab for Monroe High School and Monroe County Community College students over the years, soon will be run by Monroe Public Access Cable Television.

Monroe Public Schools Board of Education members unanimously agreed Tuesday night to sell the FM radio station license and equipment to MPACT for $25,000.

The station's future has been up in the air since Monroe County Community College dropped funding for it earlier this year in a budget-cutting move.

With the sale to MPACT, the station will continue to operate. Eventually, its broadcast studio equipment will be moved from Monroe High School to the MPACT studios in downtown Monroe.

But the radio station transmitter and antenna and the tower on which the antenna is located will stay at the high school.

"MPACT is looking forward to this new partnership with Monroe Public Schools," said Bill LaVoy, MPACT executive director. "We will be exploring ways to increase programming by involving local students, citizens and organizations to create a non-commercial community radio station."

As part of the agreement, the station's antenna, tower and transmitter will stay at Monroe High School and MPACT will assume responsibility for its maintenance. But the school district will be allowed to keep its radio repeater for bus and other district radio traffic on the antenna free of charge.

MPACT does not intend any significant programming changes as a result of the sale and will continue to offer live broadcasts of Monroe High School sports as a staple of its programming. MPACT also now will be able to more regularly broadcast the audio feed of many of its television programs over WYDM, increasing the potential audience for those programs.

"I think it's a great opportunity to keep the station alive and keep it going," said Milward Beaudry, MPACT program director and engineer, who also has taught broadcasting classes at the college and high school.

"The plan is to keep everything the same," Mr. Beaudry said. "Eventually we will move it here to MPACT, but that will be the only change."

MPACT's ownership of the station still must be approved by the MPACT board and, ultimately, the Federal Communications Commission.

Currently, the station is programmed by Mr. Beaudry, who is paid by Monroe Public Schools. He said MCCC, Monroe Public Schools and Intermediate School District will continue to have a say in the station's operation because they have representatives on the MPACT board.

He said operation of the radio station by the public access cable operation is not unique. "There are a number of local cable access channels that are media outlets that have a media center with a television station and a radio station and education center," he said. "It's typical in the mold of a local access to have those options available."

With the eventual move of studio equipment to MPACT, college students will have better access to the radio station than at the high school, where college students only had access after 3 p.m. Once the move is made, access will be available for virtually the full day, he said.

MPACT, which operates the local access cable system, is supported by franchise fees paid by commercial cable television systems that serve the area. But Mr. Beaudry said efforts still would be made to line up sponsors for broadcasts of special events as has been the case in the past.

He said the intent is to still broadcast local sports, such as high school football, basketball and hockey games. "The goal at MPACT would be to continue to provide that kind of service," he said.

Another goal would be to eliminate signal interference from a station in Canada, possibly by moving the Dream station broadcast channel. "The idea is to find a frequency where we can stay without interference from another station coming online," he said. "That's something that will have to be addressed as soon as we possible can."

Monroe Public Schools supported the station until a round of district budget cuts in 2004 led the schools to enter an agreement with MCCC under which the college agreed to pay operational costs in exchange for college broadcasting students being allowed to use the station facilities.

The station is staffed by MCCC students and MCCC paid for all maintenance costs, equipment, software, licensing and other related costs, as well as the costs for the technician until July 1, when college budget-cutting left the station without funds.

Since then, the school district has paid Mr. Beaudry to program the station on an interim basis until a long-term plan was developed.

"I really believe that the community will win by having this," Mr. Beaudry said of the shift of station ownership to MPACT.

Monroe Public Schools Superintendent Randy Monday said discussions were held with several local groups but the MPACT offer was the best from a financial standpoint and for broadcast operations and program continuity.

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